


Collision Course

by SunlightOnTheWater



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Unrelated Winchesters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2014-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-26 23:38:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/971635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlightOnTheWater/pseuds/SunlightOnTheWater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean Campbell, only child of the infamous hunter Mary Campbell, mostly hunts alone or with his childhood friend and longtime girlfriend Jo Harvelle. Dean was born into hunting and he's good at it. Sam Winchester is only in it to find his father and make sure the man is okay and back on track for his vendetta before he returns to college.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In The Beginning

_Dean Campbell  
2:06 AM, 4 miles outside Damariscotta, Maine_

The house was dark and powerless. Somewhere in the massive storm mother nature had cooked up while he and Jo scrambled up the long driveway to the imposing building the power had been knocked out. Now they were hunting the ghost of eighty-five year old Myrna Norwich in the dark with nothing more than eerie shadows and lightning flashes for company. Myrna Norwich had been a typical kindly old woman living in this house about an hour away from a quaint coastal town. Then, one frosty Maine evening, she'd made the mistake of taking in two younger men who claimed that their car had broken down. Myrna had let them inside and wandered upstairs to get dressed so she could drive them into town. When she returned the two men shot her full of lead and staked her body by the road. Since then Myrna's spirit roamed the nearby roads and her house, killing any young men who came too close. 

The only lore Dean and Jo had been able to find on Myrna's burial was that the young men had come back two nights later, when they'd heard a police dispatch reporting the discovery of the body, and had somehow spirited the body away only to bury it in Myrna's own basement two days after the police had left the home alone. It sounded like some kind of ridiculous fairy story but it was the only lead they had so they were checking it out. So far the house had proved a bust but Dean was wary, keeping an eye out for any sign of the vengeful Myrna Norwich. "Dean, get your ass over here!" Jo's demanding voice cut through a rumble of thunder like it was nothing and Dean sent another wary glance around the kitchen he was standing in before heading in her direction. 

Jo had gone downstairs to look for the body while Dean scanned the upper two floors so that meant that he had to carefully descend down half rotten wooden stairs to get to her. Jo was kneeling on the damp earth, apparently the basement had a leak or two, next to a body. He was young, male, and a good three or four inches taller than Dean. The only wound on him seemed to be a red welt on the side of his head but he was entirely unconscious. "He still alive?" Dean asked, glancing around warily for the ghost that had probably done this.

"Yeah," Jo replied, flipping blond hair effortlessly over her shoulders. "I had to shoot Ms. Norwich before I could get to him though."

"Any idea why he was here?"

"Guess," Jo replied, flicking her head toward an old shovel, a gasoline can, and a bag of what Dean guessed was rock salt.

"Another hunter huh?" Dean asked, giving the young man on the ground an appraising look.

"Not a very good one," Jo returned with a derisive snort. "Listen, you watch Sleeping Beauty here and I'll work on digging up Norwich."

"Fine by me," Dean said with a shrug and Jo rolled her eyes before snatching up her shovel and beginning to dig in an already started indentation. The entire time Jo was digging Dean watched for signs of the mysterious Myrna Norwich but she never showed up. Or rather, she avoided them up until the point that Jo unearthed her body. Then there was a whoosh of cold air as Myrna Norwich simply glided through him and lunged for Jo. Jo screamed and tumbled back. Myrna took advantage of the blonde's distraction to snatch up the shovel and swing it down toward Jo. Dean managed to get a blast of rock salt into the irate ghost so that the shovel clattered harmlessly against Jo's upraised arms. "Hurry it up," he snapped at Jo who glared stubbornly at him.

"I'm _trying_ ," she snarled, scrambling for the rock salt to spread on the bones. She had just finished salting the body when Myrna returned. This time the woman went straight for Dean, throwing him aside like he was simply made of string. Then she was lunging for Jo again, this time with a pick axe she'd gotten from who knows where. 

"Look out," Dean yelled and then gaped as the pick axe stopped in midair. Myrna just kept on swinging but the pick axe just hung there as if lifted by an invisible hand. Jo stared too, eyes wide, as Myrna shrieked furiously. Then Dean noticed that the unnamed hunter was awake, a hand lifted and sweat dripping down his face. Myrna snarled and lunged at the younger man as Jo hurried to cover the body and gasoline and light it up. Myrna had just thrown the unnamed hunter into a wall when she burst into flames. Myrna shrieked her fury and Jo let out a triumphant whoop as Myrna vanished. "Nice," Dean said, grinning at her before kneeling next to the unconscious hunter and pressing two fingers to his neck.

"Still alive?" Jo asked, closing the gasoline can.

"Yeah," Dean replied, mirroring their conversation earlier. "Just out of it."

"So what exactly do we do?" Jo questioned after a moment. "Leave him here?"

"Bobby'd have our heads, not to mention your mother," Dean said, making Jo giggle. "No, we'll take him with us."

"Great," Jo replied with an eye roll. "You're carrying him then."

"Thanks a lot," Dean called after his girlfriend who simply flipped him off, snatched up the rest of their things along with the unconscious hunter's, and practically skipping up the stairs.

_Sam Winchester  
1 hour earlier_

"Yeah, I'm sure this is the place," nineteen year old Sam Winchester grumbled, tucking the cell phone between his left shoulder and ear. "The hotel manager and a few of the townspeople saw Dad two days ago."

"Ok then," the concerned voice of Pastor Jim Murphy said over the phone. The mild mannered hunter and pastor from Blue Earth, Minnesota had known Sam since the boy was small and was practically a second father to him. "Be careful then Sam."

"I will," Sam promised. "I'll call you in twelve hours and let you know what I've found, all right?"

"I'll be waiting for you to call," Jim promised and then hung up the phone. Sam smiled and shoved the phone in his pocket before flipping on his flashlight and heading into the house. The only sinister thing he'd been able to dig up about its history was an old woman, the last owner, who'd been killed forty years ago. His guess was that the woman had been an unquiet spirit and his father, John Winchester, had come to do a simple salt and burn. Sam had been tracking his father for four months, ever since Jim had come down to Stanford to tell Sam that his father had gone out on a hunt and simply vanished. Sam had packed up immediately, kissed his new girlfriend Jessica goodbye, and taken off on John's trail. Up until this case the trail had remained cold but now, on advice from a girl named Ruby, he'd come up to this tiny town in Maine only to find out his father had been there, at least of two days ago, and asking questions about the murder of Myrna Norwich.

Thinking hopeful thoughts about returning to college and Jessica, he headed into the house. There was no sign of John Winchester on the first or second floor so Sam warily headed for the basement. In his experience of hunting everything nasty always lived in basements. The steps were old and about half rotten and Sam tested each one as best as he could before stepping on it. It was with a sense of relief that he stepped on the damp basement floor. He swept the flashlight beam across the basement floor but on first glance saw nothing. That was odd. John Winchester may have been obsessed with finding the thing that had killed his wife and Sam's mother, Julie, but he always finished the jobs he started. All records showed that Myrna Norwich was buried in her own basement, as per an odd last request, so John would have come here, dug up the grave, and salt and burned to body. This wasn't like his father at all. 

Mildly worried, Sam turned and hurried back up the stairs and out of the house to his truck. The vehicle was a gas guzzler and the kind of monster that would have environmentalists screaming in rage over its carbon footprint. It broke down frequently, creaked and groaned constantly, didn't have working air or heat, and wasn't the kind of vehicle Sam would have normally consented to drive except for the fact that his father had given it to him. Sam and John weren't particularly close but Julie had died when Sam was just a baby so John was the only family he had. Therefore Sam treasured the truck and had taken offense when Tony, a friend from school, had suggested he "sell the old piece of junk." Sam pulled a gasoline can, bag of rock salt, and a shovel out of the back of the trunk, thankful that he'd stopped at Pastor Jim's and stocked up before coming here.

He had to take two trips down to the basement so he could carry the flashlight in one hand and the supplies in the other. He would have liked to turn the house lights only but anyone driving by the Norwich house might notice the lights and decide to investigate. Sam couldn't afford to be arrested or shot because someone wanted to know why a light was on in an abandoned house. Once everything was in the basement he began scanning the place for any sign of a grave. It didn't take long. Most of the floor was completely smooth but there was one second, about four and a half feet long, that was a hump near the far wall. The hump could only be one thing. Sam grabbed his shovel and started digging. He didn't get far.

Myrna Norwich lunged out of nowhere, shrieking like a mad woman. Sam ducked the first swipe of the broom handle she held in ghostly hands and automatically swung the shovel at her, not that it did any good. The shovel simply flew right through her. Sam stumbled back a step, off balanced by the momentum of the shovel. That was how Myrna got him. She simply rammed the broom handle into his temple before he could catch his balance and everything turned black.


	2. Seeking Answers

_Sam Winchester_  
 _6:45 PM, Fort Wayne, Indiana_  
 _1 Year Earlier_

The hotel room was one of their usual dives; musty, dim, and with horribly patterned wallpaper. Sam didn't care. All he cared about was packing his bag as quickly as possible so maybe he could _get out_ before Dad came back from the bar. The acceptance letter for Stanford, a full ride that an ordinary parent would have been proud of it, had came through Pastor Jim a month after his high school graduation. In secret he had made all the proper arrangements. Now all he had to do was get there. He would leave John a note, leave a message for his father with Pastor Jim as extra reassurance, and be out without a big blow up. It didn't work.

John Winchester came in through the door just as Sam zipped up his bag and froze. There was a moment of silence as the Winchesters stared at each other. Then John exploded. "What the hell do you think you're doing boy?" His voice was an angry rumble of thunder and it automatically made Sam tense and angry.

"I'm leaving."

"Leaving?" John repeated the word as if he hadn't quite heard right.

"Yeah," Sam replied, his voice steel. "I'm going to college."

"College?"

"Yes," Sam's voice grew dark with frustration. "To get a real life instead of wandering around digging up graves and wasting things that go bump in the night. I'm going to be _normal_."

"You don't fit in normal," John scoffed. "You belong here. Hunting."

"No I don't!" Sam snapped back. "This isn't what Mom would have wanted." Trump card. Or rather, the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Don't you dare talk about what Julie would have wanted!"

"You just don't want me talking about what she would have wanted because you know it's the truth! You know she wouldn't have wanted to this for me. Or for you. It's just your stupid revenge vendetta!" Sam snatched up his bag and brushed by his father to yank open the door.

"You walk out that door," John said, his voice low and deadly.

"And what?" Sam asked coldly, turning back to look at his livid father.

"You walk out that door," John repeated. "And you never come back again."

"I won't," was all Sam said before he turned and left.

_Dean Campbell  
3:45 AM, Damariscotta, Maine_

"Sam Winchester," Jo read off the driver's license she'd snagged out of their unconscious friend's pocket. "Age nineteen. According to the town's residents he's been asking around about some man who was here earlier in the week."

"Never heard of him," Dean said with a shrug. "I'll call Bobby, see if he knows anything. You want to try your mother?"

"Not tonight," Jo said with a groan. "I don't have the energy if it brings up some argument."

"Get cleaned up then," Dean said, leaning over to kiss her. "I'll call Bobby," he added when he pulled away.

"Okay love," Jo drawled and grabbed one of her bags, heading for the bathroom. Dean watched her go with a grin for a moment, appreciating her form, before fishing out his cell phone and dialing the correct number from memory.

"Singer Salvage," a gruff voice said after the second ring.

"Hey Bobby," Dean said as cheerfully as he could. "I have a question for you."

"What'd ya do now ya idjit?" Bobby asked and Dean laughed. Dean had known Bobby Singer since he was young. The man and his mother, Mary, had been friends since before Dean was born and even now, after her unfortunate death during a hunt for some demon, Bobby remained a family friend. The older man was also as close to a father as Dean got. His real father was a man Mary had met only once. She hadn't even known his last name so Dean had always been a Campbell like his mother. Not that it bothered him or any of the people he hunted with.

"Nothing," Dean reassured the man. "Jo and I got the hunt taken care of easily. It's just there was another hunter there. According to Jo he's been asking around looking for someone. He was unconscious when we got there but he had all the supplies to take care of the ghost."

"You have a name?"

"Sam Winchester according to the driver's license."

"John Winchester's boy. Has to be." Bobby didn't sound entirely thrilled about the discovery. "John's an idiot with a vendetta. His wife was killed when the kid was just a baby, burned alive in the boy's nursery. Ever since then John's dragged the kid around hunting things and looking for the demon that got her. I don't know much though. Jim's had more contact with the Winchesters than I have."

"What do you know about the kid?" Dean asked, looking over at Sam. At the moment the younger man looked almost peaceful, floppy brown hair falling across his forehead. 

"Not much," Bobby said and Dean could almost _hear_ the older man's shrug. "John kept any information pretty close to himself. "Last I heard was from Pastor Jim that Winchester was hunting solo. He didn't say anything about the kid." Dean frowned at that, unsure of what to make of the unusual information.

"You think maybe something got ahold of Sam?"

"No idea," Bobby said, sounding tired. "You'll have to ask him when he comes around."

"I will," Dean reassured the man who was like a father to him. "Listen Bobby, thanks for everything."

"No problem son," Bobby replied. "Get some rest and I'll see you in a couple days." Then he hung up and Dean put down the phone. Jo sauntered out of the bathroom then, her damp hair hanging loose over her shoulders.

"Did Bobby know anything?" she asked, sitting down next to him on the bed.

"Said he was the son of John Winchester, some half assed hunter on a revenge mission for his wife. Supposedly the kid got dragged along but he's been out of the picture for a while now," Dean said, slipping an arm around Jo. Sometimes, when the hunt had been long of they'd been thrown an unexpected curve, she let him be sweet without throwing a jibe. This was one of those times.

"We'll figure it out," Jo reassured him, turning his face to kiss him. "I promise." Dean smiled, reassured by her, and kissed her back.


	3. Waking Up

_Sam Winchester  
11:50 AM, Damariscotta, Maine_

He woke up to aching muscles and sunlight streaming in through closed curtains. The hotel room was unfamiliar in that it wasn't his but familiarly tacky all the same. The ceiling had been done popcorn style and the wall was covered with lurid neon orange wallpaper with neon green chickens on it, properly faded of course. He made a soft gagging sound at the decor, similar to what he'd seen in cheap motels across the country growing up, and sat up. The room seemed empty but there were a couple dufflebags on the floor, neither of them Sam's, but he wasn't tied up so he took that as a good sign. A door opened not far from the bed he was draped on, probably the bathroom door, and a slim girl with long blonde hair. "You're awake," she said cheerfully, a wide smile across her face. "Good. We were wondering if you'd even wake up."

"We?" Sam asked, warily glancing around. It looked like it was just the two of them which, in the hunting world, was never a good sign.

"Dean stepped out to get lunch. Or breakfast or whatever." She wrinkled her nose slightly as she realized what she'd just said, reminding Sam of Jessica Moore, his current crush and another pretty blonde. "Anyhow it's nice to meet you properly, meaning when you're not passing out, Sam. I'm Jo."

"Nice to meet you Jo," he agreed, polite out of habit, and she beamed at him.

"Aren't you so sweet," she cooed and earned herself an eyeroll. The door to the outside world swung open and Sam was moving on habit, already fluidly placing the bed between himself and the newcomer before his mind connected the startled blonde with the man from the night before. He sighed and sat back down on the bed as Jo giggled behind him.

"What the hell Jo?" the newcomer, presumably the earlier absent Dean, sputtered, glaring at the girl. "I thought I told you to call me when he woke up!"

"He just did," Jo snapped, turning from amused to irritated in a minute. Sam held perfectly still, wondering for a moment if there was some ritual locked in his brain to would allow him to become completely invisible until the impending argument finished. Fortunately Jo didn't seem willing to let the argument move any further. "I'm going out for a bit. Call me when you're done interrogating Sam." Then she stomped past Dean and out the door, slamming it harshly behind him. Dean whirled as if to call after her and then shook his head, placing what he'd brought into the room on the coffee table. Then the other man turned to look at Sam, settling down on the other bed.

"Dean Campbell," he said after a moment, offering his hand.

"Sam Winchester," Sam replied, shaking Dean's hand warily. "But I guess you already knew that."

"Jo pulled your wallet," Dean said in a matter of fact tone. "Then I called a family friend to ask about you. He said that you hunted with your dad, who's in the business because of some vendetta, and you were out of the picture as of about a year ago. So what happened? Some monster snag you? Maybe a demon?"

"Nothing like that," Sam said, fighting to keep calm in the face of Dean's suddenly dark tone. "I went to college."

"You went to _college_?" Dean asked incredulously, spitting out the word college like Sam had just said he'd sold his soul to the Devil. 

"Now you sound like my dad," Sam snapped, losing what fragile hold he had on his temper. He was out in the middle of nowhere taking time out after only completing his freshman year in college and probably losing his full ride scholarship to find his obsessed and possibly suicidal father. Why did Dean have the right to treat him like he was an idiot for trying to get out of this business? "I didn't want this life, _okay_? So if it's all right with you I'd like to find my dad and get back to school before I get killed young just like half of the other hunters that have ever existed." Dean looked mildly taken aback by Sam's outburst, holding his hands out in the typical I'm-Harmless-Don't-Kill-Me pose.

"Sorry dude. Didn't mean to burst your happy little bubble or whatever." Sam snorted, fishing in his pocket for his cell phone at the same time. It wasn't there.

"You seen my-"

"Phone?" Dean interrupted, holding the object out helpfully. "It wouldn't stop beeping last night so we shut it off." Sam groaned, knee bouncing impatiently as he waited for the thing to power up. Predictably there were twelve missed calls, none of them from John Winchester. Two were from Pastor Jim who Sam had promised to check in with when he finished the salt and burn, one was from Caleb (probably a resounding negative on any sign of John), one was from Jess (just checking in on him-he was sure), seven were from Adam Milligan (Sam's younger half brother), and one was, surprisingly, from Bela Talbot. "Jeez," Dean muttered, now leaning over Sam's shoulder. "How many people did you panic by getting knocked out last night?"

"Do you _mind_?" Sam growled in irritation and Dean backed off with a snort of derision.

"Sure Sammy," the man drawled, heading for the bathroom.

"It's _Sam_ ," Sam called after him, not sure why he even bothered with Dean just ignored him, shutting the bathroom door. Sam sighed and turned back to the matter of missed calls. He dialed Pastor Jim first, listening to the phone ring twice before someone picked up.

"Jim Murphy speaking, how may I help you?" The familiar voice soothed Sam more than anything else that had happened since he'd awoken, calming shattered nerves.

"It's Sam, Pastor Jim," he said and clearly heard the man's sigh of relief. "Sorry for not calling you last night. I got whacked by the resident ghost. I'm fine though."

"That's good," came the relieved reply. "I was an hour away from calling Caleb and sending him after you."

"Thanks for the concern," Sam said, hesitating a moment before adding, "Do you know a Dean Campbell?"

"Only met him once or twice," Jim admitted. "He seems like a nice enough young man and he's a born hunter."

"Is he prone to overreacting?" Sam asked nervously, remembering what he'd done the night before. He'd used his powers in front of the two hunters, a fact that would have had John bellowing at him for days.

"I don't know Sam," Jim said, voice kind but worried. Jim had learned about Sam's powers the moment they'd come into being and helped break the news to John. "You call if he tends toward that direction."

"I will," Sam reassured the older man. "I promise. Thank you Jim."

"Anytime son," Jim reassured the younger man.

_Dean Winchester  
12:10 PM, Damariscotta, Maine_

When Dean stepped out of the bathroom Sam was dialing a number into his phone, right foot tapping almost nervously. "Come on," he heard the younger man mutter. "Answer the phone." He growled after a moment, snapping the phone shut and glare at it. "You called me seven times in the last twenty-four hours. You can at least have the decency to answer your damn phone." Then the younger man took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let out it. Dean watched from the doorway as Sam dialed again. This time apparently someone answered because Sam said, "Hello Kelly, this is Sam. Can I speak to Adam please?" There was a pause and then he added, "Thank you Kelly." There was another pause, Sam's foot tapping faster and then suddenly stopping. "Hey Adam... Yes, I'm fine!...Yes I called Jim...No there's no new developments...How is school going? Is everything okay?" There was a longer pause this time, Sam only occasionally nodded and making sounds of agreement or sympathy. Dean moved so he could watch the younger man's face, surprised by the range of expressions there. Love, joy, worry, compassion, jealousy, despair, delight. They all danced across his face in equal measure. The only thing that stayed was an intense sense of pride. Finally Sam ended the conversation, saying "Stay safe Adam and I'll talk to you later, okay? Bye."

"Who was that?" Dean asked curiously when Sam hung up and the younger man startled slightly.

"That was Adam," he said after a moment. "He's- We're- It's complicated."

"Sounds like it," Dean said with amusement and got a look that could only be classified as a bitchface. Sam turned back to his phone and dialed again. 

Apparently this time he got a messaging system because the only words out of him were, "Hey Jess, I'm fine. I'm just calling to let you know I'm sorry I missed your earlier call and I'll catch up with you later. Bye." The younger hunter had no sooner hung up than he was dialing again, foot tapping impatiently again.

"That won't make them pick up any sooner, you know," Dean pointed out with amusement, unable to help himself.

"What?" Sam asked, staring blankly at him for a moment before following Dean's gaze to his tapping foot and staring at it. "Oh. Just a habit. Hey Caleb, any news?" Dean grinned at the sudden shift from talking to Dean to focusing on the person on the phone. Sam's face faded into sudden resigned disappointment. "Thanks for trying Caleb. Call me if you get anything." Then he hung up and stared at the floor, shoulders slumped.

"Bad news?" Dean questioned sympathetically. In the hunting world new received was more often bad than good and if Sam was trying to get out of the hunting lifestyle the last thing the younger man needed was another death in his life.

"No," Sam said tiredly. "Just no news at all." The younger man lifted a hand to yank at floppy brown hair for a moment before sighing. "One more call to make and then I'll go get my truck and get out of your hair." Dean shrugged noncommittally as Sam dialed again, glancing outside to see if Jo was coming back yet. The blonde seemed to have taken a liking to Sam and Dean just knew she kick his ass, or at least threaten to sick her mother on him, if Sam left without giving her a chance to say goodbye. What he said next washed those thoughts clear out of Dean's mind. "Hey Bela, it's Sam. What have you got for me?"

_Bela?_ As in Bela fucking _Talbot_? The bitch who had almost gotten he and Jo killed over an item she wanted to sell to the highest bidder? Dean's opinion of Sam suddenly plummeted. He'd been trying so hard to think the best of the younger hunter but the combination of Sam's odd power display from the night before and his current contact with Bela Talbot through that plan through the roof. He took then what he deemed was the reasonable next step; he tackled Sam backwards off the bed.

Sam let out a surprised huff as he landed on his back on the floor and Dean pinned him, freeing a hand to snatch the cell phone out of Sam's grip. "Sammy honey?" Bela was saying as Dean placed the phone against his ear. "Are you still there?"

"Sorry bitch," Dean snapped into the phone. "But Sammy isn't available right now." Then he hung up the phone and tossed it aside.

"You asshole," Sam snarled at him, the vehement use of language making Dean lean towards demon possession. He realized then that he and Jo had gotten sloppy, not even bothering to check and see if this Sam Winchester was the real Sam Winchester. "She was trying to help."

"And you were probably going to kill her for that," Dean said conversationally, trying to remember if there was holy water within reach. He didn't think there was which meant he had to knock Sam out somehow. "Was that going to be before or after you went after the other hunters?" Sam gaped wordlessly up at him, as if Dean had lost his mind, and, no longer able to stand the look of comical shock, Dean slammed his head on the floor to knock him out.


	4. Interogation

_Jo Harvelle  
12:20 PM, Damariscotta, Maine_

"I leave for ten minutes and in that time you knock out our guest and tie him to a _chair_?" Jo yelled, standing in the doorway of the motel room.

"Keep it down," Dean hissed at her and she growled low in her throat, storming into the room and slamming the door behind her. Dean stepped in front of her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her advancement. "Jo we didn't even check to see if he was human. Or really Sam Winchester." Jo froze at that, turning to look with wide eyes at the figure tied up under a devil's trap.

"You mean he isn't human?" she asked in a whisper.

"I didn't have time to check," Dean replied. "I just put two and two together. I mean he used telekinesis to stop the ghost from killing you in that house and he was chatting on the phone with _Bela Talbot_ and we both know what kind of clientele she works with."

"So let's test him," Jo said. "Silver, salt, holy water, exorcisms; the whole works. If he doesn't respond to any of them then we should be good." They started with the silver while Sam was still knocked out, then the salt and holy water. Jo was in the middle of rattling off an exorcism when the hunter came to. He tested his bonds a moment, realized what they were doing, rolled his eyes, and didn't interrupt. "Nothing," Jo said, snapping the book shut and dropping it on Dean's bed. "No shaking, no vomiting, no thrashing or screaming. He's completely human."

"Good," Sam commented from the chair. "You mind untying me so I can call Bela back and reassure her that I'm not dead?"

"Why do you have contact with Bela Talbot?" Jo asked as she hastened to untie Sam. "I mean, you have to have some idea of what she does."

"I know exactly what she does," Sam said, standing and stretching as soon as he was free. "But she owes me. A deal went bad a couple years ago and I ended up saving her life. Now she keeps an eye out for information that might interest me. Right now she's keeping an eye out for Dad and I was about to ask what she'd found when Dean decided it would be a good idea to tackle me off the bed."

"You were talking to Bela Talbot who almost got Jo and I killed last time we saw her," Dean snapped, protesting his innocence. "And you're telekinetic."

"That isn't my fault," Sam muttered, snatching his phone up from a side table. "Where's my truck? I'm leaving."

"I'll walk you to it," Jo said, handing over Sam's coat as the man finished tying his shoes. "Dean, stay here." Then she turned and stalked out of the room with Sam on her heels. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized to him. "Dean can be a complete ass at times."

"Don't fault him for being wary," Sam replied, muscles in his shoulders relaxing. "He's just trying to keep the two of you safe."

"I know," Jo said, softening as well and smiling at Sam. "We brought your truck back with us last night. It's just over there."

"Thanks Jo," Sam said, reaching over and pulling her into a quick hug. "Stay safe."

"You too," Jo called after him, watching to make sure Sam got over to the vehicle before turning back to walk into the hotel room to apologize to Dean.

_Sam Winchester  
12:34 PM, Damariscotta, Maine_

As soon as Sam was in the truck he dialed Bela's number, foot tapping impatiently as he waited for you to answer. "Dean Campbell you had better have not hurt Sam," Bela growled the instant she picked up the phone.

Sam barked out a laugh and said, "It's me Bela."

There was a moment's silence and then Bela said, "Oh. Hi Sam."

"Hi Bela," Sam replied and was rewarded by the sound of her light laughter. "You said you had something for me before we were rudely interrupted."

"I haven't found your Dad yet, sadly," Bela said, tone turning business like. "But I did find what he was after."

"What?"

"The Colt," Bela replied. "Supposedly Samuel Colt made a gun with thirteen bullets that could kill anything, supernatural or human. The gun has a limited amount of bullets left but I can tell you it was last in the hands of legendary hunter Daniel Elkins who was just murdered a day ago by vampires. If your father knew that Daniel had the Colt he'll be heading there now to see if he can find any trace of it."

"Thanks Bela," Sam said, grinning widely. 

"No problem," came the reply and then Bela hung up on him as was her habit. Sam was too excited to care. Finally he had a lead. Maybe now he could find his father and get back to college so he could ask Jess out on a date before the winter holidays and get back to having a normal life.


	5. Sam Winchester, Vampire Hunter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for not updating this in forever! I actually kind of forgot about it...my bad!

_Sam Winchester  
5:50 PM, Manning, Colorado_

After a little over two days of driving, pushing his truck as fast as he dared, Sam found himself at Manning, Colorado. On the long, silent drive there he alternately cursed the distance between Maine and Colorado and prayed that his father would be there. Now that he arrived Sam was out of prayers and curses. He rented a room at the lone crumbling motel and left the truck their, arming himself with holy water and a silver knife before walking to the nearest bar. He didn't see any vehicle parked in the parking lot that looked like his father's and the motel owner hadn't seen John either. Sam was beginning to lose hope.

He pushed open the heavy wooden door of the bar and stepped inside a room full of old cigarette smoke, dim lights, cheap beer, and lowered voices. The bartender was young, pretty, and bored. Her shirt collar was buttoned up to her throat, her dark hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, and her expressive blue eyes said she wanted to be anywhere but there. She did offer him a vague smile when he walked up to her. "Can I getcha anything?" she questioned, false smile still in place. Sam ordered a beer and settled into one of the booths with his back to the wall and a good view of the door. He probably should have gotten something to eat but after a long day of driving he wasn't hungry.

He wasted a couple hours nursing the beer and watching the patronage come in and out. At six-thirty the bored bartender was replaced with an artificial redhead with wide brown eyes and a top that was unbuttoned enough to show cleavage. She wasn't his type and he avoided the attempt at flirting when he went up for another beer. By seven fifteen he was ready to give up when the front door opened and a familiar blonde walked into on the arm of another familiar hunter. Jo's eyes searched the room and then fell on Sam. They widened momentarily and then she beamed, tugging on Dean's arm and dragging him over to the booth. "Hi Sam," she chirped. "Nice to see you again."

"Evening Jo," he replied warily. Dean's reaction about one of his psychic powers had made him especially distrustful of the slightly older hunter and he wasn't entirely pleased to see him again. Jo's reaction was better but after seeing her around Dean he wasn't sure whether it had been genuine.

"What are you doing here?" Dean demanded, obviously no more pleased about Sam's presence than Sam was with his.

"Looking for my Dad," Sam repeated calmly. "Like I said before, he's missing and Bela mentioned that he might have come up here." Dean opened his mouth, probably to make some kind of snide comment, and Jo reached up to clap a hand over his mouth.

"Any luck let?" she asked, eyes shining with sympathy.

"None," Sam replied, shoulders slumping. "As far as I can tell he hasn't even been here."

"Anything about what killed Daniel Elkins then?" Jo questioned.

"Bela suggested vampires," he answered. "But I just got here and haven't done much besides asking around about my Dad."

"Understandable," Jo said, removing her hand from Dean's mouth. He snorted and she glared at him. "Be nice! Go get me a drink." She shoved him and waited til he headed obediently towards the bar before sitting across from him. "We're here because Dean's foster father, Bobby Singer, knew Daniel and sent us to investigate his death. He suggested vampires but we've never hunted them before so we don't know what we're looking for or even how to kill them."

"Same here," Sam admitted. "I didn't even know vampires were real until Bela's last call and after the stunt your boyfriend pulled she wasn't exactly in the mood to elaborate." Jo blushed at the suggestion that Dean was her boyfriend but didn't deny it, moving on with the conversation instead.

"So why'd your dad go off the charts? Any idea?"

"Probably hunting whatever killed Mom," Sam replied as Dean returned, passing Jo her beer and sitting down next to her."He's obsessed with the idea of killing whatever it is and he's going to get himself, along with whoever is stupid enough to agree to hunt with him, killed." Jo winced at that and he sighed, standing. "I'm going to get some rest. I'll be out of the town in the morning. Good luck on the case." Then he escaped the bar, stepping into the cool night air. "Where are you Dad?" he asked the sky, not expecting any answer. He also wasn't expecting the dark haired woman standing in front of him when he turned back towards the motel.

"Hello sweetie," she cooed and something about her made Sam instinctively wary. "You wouldn't happen to be John Winchester's son, would you?"

"Yes," Sam said, backing up a step only to have someone wrap arms around his neck and pull tight.

"Good," the woman said with a wide, vicious smile. "Then we haven't grabbed the wrong one."

_Dean Campbell  
7:45 PM, Manning, Colorado_

"I don't trust him," Dean said the moment Sam left the bar. 

"I know that," Jo replied, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "But he's hurt and scared and all alone right now. He needs some friends in this."

"He can throw things with his mind," Dean protested. "That isn't natural."

"And we hunt things that shouldn't exist," Jo countered. "Most people would agree that what we do isn't natural." Dean still looked unconvinced and she sighed. "Just give him a chance Dean. _Please_."

"Ok," Dean agreed reluctantly. "But only for you."

"Good," Jo said, beaming. "Now come on; let's go catch up with him!" Dean allowed himself to be pulled out the door with a fond grin only to freeze and pull Jo back into the shadows. There were two figures standing in the parking lot. A slim, dark haired female seemed to be directing the other one, a broad shouldered male who had an unconscious Sam in a fireman's carry. The two walked off into the night, leaving Dean and Jo standing in the shadows watching them. "That isn't good, is it?" Jo asked, voice whisper soft.

"Well I highly doubt that they're taking him to see his Dad," Dean replied dryly. "Unless John Winchester is already dead."

"So what are we going to do?" Jo demanded. 

"We're going to call Bobby for backup," Dean answered. "And then we're going to get Sam back."


	6. Making an Effort

_Dean Campbell  
4:12 AM, Manning, Colorado_

Dean jerked to a stop from his pacing when a knock came on the door. Jo picked up her gun, aiming it carefully, and Dean slipped by her to peer through the peep hole before carefully opening the door. He made sure to stay out of the path of Jo's gun. Bobby Singer stepped inside, walking casually through the devil's trap drawn on the ceiling as if it were nothing. "You called," the man said pointedly as Jo put the gun down and Dean closed the door.

"Yeah," Dean confirmed. "We have a slight problem."

"You know Sam Winchester?" Jo cut in and Bobby shot her an exasperated glance.

"Of him. We've been over this Joanna Beth." Jo glared at the use of her full first name along with her middle name but continued on, undeterred.

"Well we were talking to him earlier tonight. He's been looking for his dad and heard a rumor that the man was up here. It turned out to be a dead end," she said. "He was heading back to the motel so he left a minute or so before us. We got out in time to see him get grabbed."

"And you idjits called me about _that_?" Bobby questioned gruffly. "The Winchesters do things on their own. They won't thank us for stepping in."

"First off it's just _Sam_ ," Jo growled back. "And secondly he was snatched by the vampires Dean and I are here to hunt so you bet your stupid junkyard we called you to come help."

_Sam Winchester  
4:17 AM, Manning, Colorado_

Sam's head ached. It felt like he'd drank one too many beers the night before except for the fact that he was tied to a post. "Morning sweetie," a voice taunted and he groaned, cracking open hazel eyes that were murky with pain. "Nice to see my boy didn't kill you." Sam snorted at that and she scowled.

"Listen Miss, I don't know who you are but-"

"You don't know who I am?" she squeaked incredulously. "Daddy never mentioned me?"

"No," Sam replied, eyebrows arching toward his hairline as his brain began attempting to work out what exactly was going on. He knew he'd been kidnapped but not why. Now this woman, vampire really, was implying that it had something to do with his father. "What did he do?" the young hunter asked warily.

"What did he do?" the vampire repeated incredulously. "He murdered my mate, destroyed my reason for living, all because Luther happened to get in his way. Now I'm going to return the favor. Your precious father is going to return in time to watch me rip your heart out of your chest."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Sam told her frankly. "But I'm pretty sure that even if my dad showed up he wouldn't give a fuck." The vampire gaped at him, eyes wide, and Sam let out a bitter chuckle. "Yeah, congrats to you. You grabbed the one person who John Winchester never wants to see again. Nice job."

"I- You-" the vampire stuttered. "You're lying."

"Nope," Sam replied with a tired smirk. "Not a chance. So you may as well get it over with 'cause no one is coming."


	7. Batman and Friends to the Rescue

_Jo Harvelle  
4:20 AM, Manning, Colorado_

It took all of five minutes for Bobby and Dean to narrow down a possible hiding spot for the vampires. That was how they'd arrived at an old barn in time to see what looked like a dark haired woman with arched eyebrows and shadowed eyes circling slowly around a tied up Sam Winchester. She was in the middle of some rant, hands held tight against her sides as she hissed out, "-all because Luther happened to get in his way. Now I'm going to return the favor." Everything about her seemed to brighten at that thought, her step becoming lighter as she moved around so she could see Sam's reaction to whatever she was going to say next. "Your precious father is going to return in time to watch me rip your heart out of your chest." Jo shuddered at that statement. She couldn't see the female vampire's face but she could picture the cruel smirk plastered there. That made what Sam said next all the more heartbreaking.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm pretty sure even if my dad showed up up he wouldn't give a fuck." Jo gasped at the same time as the vampire, stunned by the sincerity in his expression. "Yeah, congrats to you," Sam continued with a bitter half laugh. "You grabbed the one person who John Winchester never wants to see again. Nice job."

"I-You-" the vampire stammered, shocked. "You're lying."

"Nope," Sam said with a slim smirk. "Not a chance. So you may as well get it over with 'cause no one is coming." That was the last straw for Jo. Unable to take it any longer, the young blonde hunter sprang up from here hiding spot and stormed into the barn, drawing the gun from where it had been shoved down the back of her jeans. Without missing a step she lifted the gun and fired a shot into the back of vampire girl's head. The vampire jerked but Jo was already swinging with her other arm. The head fell to the floor with a thump, the body following moments later.

"Lying Sam?" she asked with a forced grin, wiping the blood staining the blade off on the vampire's shirt. "That's not very nice of you. Santa will have to put you on the naughty list this Christmas."

"I've been on the naughty list all my life," Sam replied tiredly as she quickly cut the bonds. "Jo please tell me you didn't come here alone because your boyfriend is going to kill me if you dead." He rose stiffly to his feet and Jo laughed lightly.

"Of course I didn't silly. I brought backup." She spun and sliced off another vampire's head, sending it plopping to the floor. "Of course I was supposed to wait for the signal but I couldn't take it anymore. You're enough to make a rough and tumble hunter cry. You know that Sammy?"

"It's Sam," he corrected gently, tugging her out of the way and punching the oncoming vampire square in the face hard enough to send it stumbling back a step and reaching instinctively for its nose. Jo chopped off its head as Dean and Bobby joined the growing fight, machetes gleaming in the moonlight. Jo's grin widened and Sam shrugged at the addition of the newcomers.

"You stun and I chop?" she offered cheerfully, flat out beaming when he nodded. They moved as a team, forging a path through the quickly dwindling number of vampires. Sam's sheer size was enough to make most of them falter. He took advantage of that hesitation too, diving in with punishing punches that sent them reeling so that Jo could chop off their heads with quick, efficient movements. Soon the four hunters were standing in the barn surrounded by a dozen dead vampires. "Nice job," she told him and was rewarded with a shy smile. "You're good help." Then she turned toward her boyfriend. "You okay Dean?"

"Of course," came the offended reply. "I'm Batman."

"What does that make me?" Jo asked curiously. "Robin?"

"Nah," Sam said immediately. "You're Batgirl; smart as hell and definitely your own person."

"Aww, thanks sweetie," she cooed at him and he ducked his head, blushing slightly.

"Thanks for the rescue," he said once he stopped flushing with embarrassment at Jo's teasing. He looked awkward and unsure, which melted Jo's heart, and turned to leave without waiting for a reply.

"Wait," Jo cried out, reaching out a hand and barely missing snagging Sam's sleeve. "You're just going to leave? What about your dad?"

"He isn't here Jo. He's never been here," Sam replied without looking back.

"Let us help you," she pleaded and Sam stopped, turning back to look at her with a sad smile.

"Listen Jo, you're a nice girl and that's really nice of you to offer but it'll be better for all of us if you stay away. Enough people have gotten hurt by this mess already. I'm not going to be responsible for another death." Then Sam turned and walked out of the barn, leaving a stunned and crushed Jo behind.

_Sam Winchester  
6:50 AM, Cheyenne, Wyoming_

Sam sat in the mostly empty twenty-four hour McDonalds just like he'd done for the last hour or so waiting for it to be early enough to call Adam. His younger half brother had an eight in the morning class so he'd be up soon and as a Winchester he'd know to check his phone for messages before he did anything else. He dialed the number and listened to it ring eight times before Adam's voicemail message picked up. "Hey. This is Adam. I'm not available right now but leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." He smiled at the sound of his little brother's voice and waited for the beep.

"Hey Adam, this is Sam. I'm just calling to check in with you. Everything's fine right now but there's been no luck with finding Dad yet. I'll call you if I find anything. Stay safe." Sam hung up quickly and stared at his phone, considering what to do next. That was when the vision hit him. _There was a blonde girl sitting in a church pew with her head bowed. He was walking down toward her, asking, "Can I help you?"_

_"I kinda," she hesitated a moment, glancing up shyly at him. "I need to talk."_

_"Well that's what I'm here for."_

_"I've done some things. Not good things."_

_"Well there's always forgiveness for us if we seek it." The voice coming out of his mouth was Pastor Jim's, not Sam's, and he felt his heart beginning to sink down through his stomach._

_"For everyone?" the young woman asked. "Are you sure?"_

_"I like to say salvation was created for sinners. Tell me what's on your mind."_

_"Well. I've lied. A lot. I've stolen. I've lusted. And the other day I met this man. A nice guy, you know? We had a really good chat, sort of like this," she hesitated, tilting her head slightly and Sam realized with dawning horror where he recognized her from. "Then I slit his throat and ripped his heart out through his chest." Sam opened his mouth to scream but nothing happened as her eyes flashed black and she lunged forward with a knife._

Sam gasped for breath, chest heaving as he fumbled clumsily with his phone, shaking fingers jabbing pointlessly at the buttons. There had been sunlight filtering through the church windows so he had some time. He could do this. His foot tapped nervously as he listened to the phone ring, waiting for Pastor Jim to answer. "Hello?" the man said at last and Sam almost choked on his relief. "Hello?"

"Hey Jim," he forced out, voice shaking. "I had a vision." He spilled the entirety of what he had seen and extracted a promise from the older man that he'd stay in the safely warded house and avoid blonde girls until Sam could complete the ten hour drive from Cheyenne to Blue Earth.

"Drive safely," Jim said and Sam promised, standing and already heading for the door. He wouldn't breathe easily until he could see for himself that Jim Murphy was still alive.


	8. Targets on ther Backs

_Dean Campbell  
7:00 AM, Manning, Colorado_

Dean woke up with a rough hand shaking him. "Get up ya idjit. We have quite a drive today," Bobby said, handing over a McDonald's cup of coffee as soon as he seemed sure that Dean wouldn't drop it. Mary Campbell's only child sat up with a groan and took a sip of the coffee, nose wrinkling at the taste. 

"What's going on?" he asked and a slightly more awake Jo shrugged. She was absently combing through her blonde hair but she'd been combing the same strands for the last minute or so. 

"Jim Murphy called," Bobby said. "He said Sam Winchester just called him babbling something about a demon coming after him. Sam's heading up to check on him but he warned that the demon may go after others that Sam has association with when it finds out its thwarted."

"So what exactly are we doing?" Dean asked blearily.

"We're going up to check on Jim," Bobby replied. "And we're getting some answers because I want to know exactly how the Winchester kid knows a demon is after Jim."

The drive to Manning was long and mostly silent with Jo staring absently out the window and Dean focused on following Bobby. Somewhere across a state line it started to rain. It was still raining, fat drops tapping politely against the hood of the Impala, when they reached Jim Murphy's home at Blue Earth. Dean only vaguely knew Jim, he had met the pastor twice when he was younger, but Bobby and Jim were good friends. Jo had never met the man and Dean couldn't help but feel that this wasn't going to be the greatest first meeting.

Sam Winchester's truck was sloppily parked in Jim's driveway at an odd angel that forced Dean and Bobby to park on the street. There appeared to be nothing else wrong but Dean's hackles were up. Jo was similarly alert as she slipped out of the Impala. Bobby already had a gun in hand as he headed for the front door, Jo and Dean covering his back. They moved stealthily to the front door, Bobby turning the door handle slowly and then freezing when he realized the front door was unlocked. "Come on in," a voice called and the tension in the older hunter's shoulders faded away. The three of them stepped into Jim's home them, hands still on their guns.

Jim Murphy's home was neat and small without feeling cramped. The walls were all painted crisp white, the floors were honey colored wood, and the windows were angled so that they allowed the maximum amount of light in. Rain pattered lightly on the roof and even with the thick dark clouds billow across the stormy sky it was still light enough to see without having the lights on. They passed by the thin stairs, through the kitchen, and into a cozy living room. Jim was sitting in a rocking chair with an old black leather bound Bible on his lap. Stretched across the worn in loveseat, looking like a giant dumped into a dollhouse, was Sam Winchester, eyes closed and breathing low and even. Jim stood, motioning them towards the kitchen.

"Coffee?" Jim asked, already heading for the coffee maker as he motioned the hovering hunters toward the chairs on either side of the small two person oak dinette table against one wall. Jo took one chair and Dean motioned for Bobby to take the other, leaning against the doorway.

"Yes please," Jo said politely, folding her hands in her lap in a way that told Dean she was uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"Jim, this is Jo Harvelle," Bobby introduced gruffly. "Jo, Pastor Jim Murphy."

"It's nice to meet you," Jo said politely.

"A pleasure to meet you too," Jim told her, pouring the coffee into four mugs. Jo wrapped her fingers around hers but didn't drink, Bobby took a gulp of his, and Jim and Dean both nursed theirs.

"So Sam Winchester tells you a demon is coming after you and you just drop everything and listen to him?" Bobby asked at last, his tone rough and skeptical.

"He isn't in the habit of being wrong," Jim said, his tone mildly disapproving. "And you of all people should know better than to judge someone by who their father is." Bobby snorted.

"So how did he know?" Dean asked. "I mean, it isn't like demons to call and chat on about what they're going to do to a friend without already having captured the person they're torturing." Jim turned to look toward the room Sam was sleeping in, as if considering how to answer that. It was at that moment when there was a suddenly strangled gasping from the next room. Dean, Jo, and Bobby all froze but Jim was already putting his coffee mug down hard enough that it made a sound like it was cracking and darting towards the next room.

_Sam Winchester  
6:37 PM, Blue Earth, Minnesota_

Sam catapulted from sleep, his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest and his fingers scrabbling toward his pocket for his cell phone. Visions while he was awake hurt. That made his head pound and often enough his nose and ears bled. Visions when he was asleep were different. Instead of just seeing anything, he _felt_ it too. He yanked his phone out, trying to calm his ragged gasping, even as he flipped his phone open and brought up Adam's number. He ignored Jim's flood of questions as the phone rang and rang. He hung up the instant Adam's answering machine picked up. Adam was only a year younger than Sam and already planning on going into pre-Med. He tried Adam's cell next. Nothing. 

It took him a moment to bring up Kelly's. Kelly Fowley was a year younger than Adam, pretty, pious, and with luxurious waves of auburn hair. It was she he'd watched burn alive on the ceiling of her house. Kelly's phone rang twice before she picked. "Hey Sam," she said and he could almost see her sweet smile. Normally her gentleness would make him smile too. Today, after seeing her burn to death, it made his stomach twist uncomfortably. "Are you looking for Adam?"

"Yeah," Sam said, his voice slightly hoarse.

"He's right here," Kelly told him. "The moron dropped his cellphone somewhere between here and our high school so we've been retracing our footsteps for the past hour trying to find it." Then he heard the phone changing hands and Adam was suddenly there, bright and alive and unharmed by loss.

"Hey Sam, what is it?"

"Vision," he gasped out and could almost hear Adam go still. His half brother might not be quite the hunter Sam had been raised to be but after his mother Kate's death three years ago he'd been inducted into the Winchester family insanity. 

"What is it?" Adam asked again, voice low and intense.

"Kelly," he choked out. "On the ceiling burning. I don't know when and I don't know what house."

"Are you coming?" Adam sounded hopeless and lost and Sam was already dragging himself to his feet even though he was exhausted by his hours long drive to Blue Earth. 

"I'll be leaving Blue Earth in five minutes," he told Adam. "I'll be there in an hour and a half."

"Thanks," Adam said, sounding ridiculously relived.

"No problem," Sam said before he hung up and turned to the task of explaining what was going on while tying his shoes.


	9. Preventive Measures

_Adam Milligan  
7:46 PM, Windom, Minnesota_

Sam looked like crap. That was Adam's first thought when he opened the front door of the home he'd once shared with his mother for his older half brother. There were dark circles under Sam's eyes and his whole body swayed with exhaustion. "How's Kelly?" were the first words out of Sam's mouth.

"Fine," Adam replied. "She went home to pack an overnight bag. She's taking everything really well, all things considering." Kelly had found out about the supernatural last time Sam had been over. There'd been a vengeful spirit attached to an antique necklace Kelly's father had given her. Sam had gotten rid of the spirit but Kelly had seen it and they'd had to explain everything. Adam had expected Kelly to run screaming. She hadn't but it had been a close thing. Four days after the incident she came back to apologize for her freak out. That little incident had allowed Adam to explain Sam's visions to Kelly, including his most recent one. "She'll be back in ten minutes or so. Are you okay?"

"Fine," Sam said, lingering awkwardly in the doorway. "Listen, uh, there are some other people here."

"Pastor Jim?"

"Amongst others." Sam didn't seem to happy about the followers. 

"Are they staying here?" Adam asked.

"No," Sam replied with a shake of his head. "They're getting hotel rooms."

"Ok," Adam said easily. "Are you going to come in or just linger in the doorway like a creeper?" Sam snorted then, a half smile actually making its way on to his face, and stepped into the house. Adam shut the door behind his older brother. "Do I need to get the spare bedroom ready or are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Couch," Sam said immediately and Adam didn't bother to protest. He and Kelly had bedrooms on the ground floor and the guest bedroom was upstairs so there had been little to no chance that Sam would sleep in a bedroom. They fell into comfortable silence, Sam pulling out the couch (it was one of those monsters that turned into a bed), and Adam dragging out the spare sheets from the closet. There was a knock on the door a moment later and Adam went to answer it. Kelly was standing there with her auburn hair pulled up in a messy ponytail and a bag in her arms. She leaned in to kiss Adam and let him pull her into the house.

"Hi Sam," she called brightly as they entered the living room, slipping out of Adam's arms to go hug his older brother. 

"Kelly," Sam said, expression lightening with affection as he gently hugged her back, as if she were glass and might break. The sight made Adam grin. Kelly was the girl for him and it made life so much easier that she and Sam got along.

"You look like you haven't slept for a week," Kelly said when she finally pulled away from Sam.

"It's been a long week," Sam replied with a wry grin, making Kelly giggle.

"I'm going to shower," Kelly informed Adam, standing on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek. "You boys talk." Then she bustled off with her bag in hand.

"So any luck finding Dad?" Adam asked his brother.

"None," Sam replied with a sigh. "And it isn't as if he's vanished either. It's just that I'm always three steps behind him."

"You'll find him," Adam rushed to reassure Sam. "If anyone can it'll be you."

"Thanks Adam," Sam said with a tired smile. "Now let's go ward Kelly's room before we're both too tired to be effective."

_Dean Campbell  
7:55 PM, Windom, Minnesota_

"This is ridiculous," Dean muttered as he and Jo unpacked in their hotel room.

"Which part?" Jo shot back. "The fact that besides being telekinetic, Sam has visions or the fact that we're trailing after him like a bunch of suspicious sheep?"

"You're not helping Jo," Dean growled and she snorted.

"I don't understand what your problem is. You've seen psychics before. Hell, you talk to Missouri Mosseley at least once a month. What makes Sam any different?" The problem was, Dean didn't have an answer for that. Maybe it was that demons seemed to haunt Sam's every step, following him as if on parade. Or maybe it was because Sam had been offered every chance Dean had not gotten and was so adamant on being _normal._

"I don't know," he said at last. "I just don't like it." Jo sighed and walked over to kiss him lightly on the cheek. 

"We'll figure out what's going on and then we'll get out of this mess,ok?" she said softly. 

"Promise?" Dean asked, turning serious green eyes toward her. 

"Promise." 


	10. Jessica

_Sam Winchester  
3:12 AM, Windom, Minnesota_

Sam woke up screaming. For a moment he couldn't see past the fire in his mind and the pretty blonde girl pinned to the ceiling of her dorm room with her roommate standing below her. _Jessica_. Sam felt sickness and self-loathing quickly strike him in the gut and he stumbled to his feet, bolting for the bathroom. He leaned over the toilet, gagging and retching up mucus. Tears dripped down his cheeks and every time he closed his eyes he could see Jess's horrified expression. It was his fault. It was all his fault. Just two days before he'd been forced to leave to search for his father he'd asked her out on a date. Jess had been delighted and excited and in her excitement she'd kissed him. It had been his first kiss that didn't taste of bitterness and lying and it had made his heart try to beat its way out of his chest. That was why she was dead; because she'd kissed him. Because she'd dared to get close to him.

"Sam?" Adam's voice was wary and concerned from where he stood in the doorway. "Sam what's wrong?" Sam struggled to pull himself together so he could answer his brother and was startled by gentle hands stroking through his hair. _Kelly_. The thought made him retch again because it could have been her tonight. Instead it'd been Jess. Sweet, helpless Jess who had known nothing of the supernatural or what was coming for her. Jess whose only crime was daring to kiss a Winchester. To _like_ a Winchester. He couldn't bring himself to regret coming to help protect Kelly but that wouldn't stop him from blaming himself for Jess's death.

"Someone else died," he choked out at last. "A girl I knew at college. A girl I _liked_."

"Oh Sam," Kelly said and Adam made a choked off noise. Sam retched again and Kelly let out a little sob.

"Do you-" Adam hesitated and in the almost deafening silence Sam could hear his younger brother swallow hard. "Do you want me to call Pastor Jim?"

"No," Sam denied immediately. He stood slowly, drawing his hand across the back of his mouth. "Listen, I need to go."

"What?" Adam asked.

"I'm putting you in danger just by being here," Sam replied, searching for his shoes. "Listen to me Adam, keep the house warded and don't tell anyone that I've gone until morning. Understand?"

"But why?" Adam protested as Kelly wrapped her arms around her middle and stared at them with wide, lost eyes.

"Because they'll only try to come after me and it will put them in grave danger," Sam told Adam. "I'm only trying to keep all of you safe. Please Adam, _please_."

"Okay," Adam agreed, looking heartbroken. "Just promise you'll stay in touch."

"I promise," Sam replied and then he was out the door before he could change his mind.

_Dean Campbell  
8:52 AM, Windom, Minnesota_

"He did _what_?" Dean was practically yelling as if that would change what Pastor Jim was reporting to them. As if that would solve any of their problems.

"Adam says that Sam left some time last night after having another vision," Jim replied. "He also said that someone else was dead."

"His girlfriend?" Jo asked, concerned.

"No," Jim answered. "A friend of Sam's from college." Jo was already flipping the laptop open, waking it, and typing rapidly into the first search engine she'd opened while the man continued talking. "Adam claimed that Sam was freaking out a bit. That he'd said he needed to stay away to keep everyone else safe."

"Sounds like the kid's got a martyr complex," Bobby grumbled from where he was seated in the only chair in the hotel room sipping his coffee.

"Not without good reason," Jim rebuked. "Just about everyone who has gotten close to a Winchester at this point in time is dead. There's a demon, one with yellow eyes, that has a nasty sort of fascination with their family."

"Found it," Jo suddenly announced, preventing Dean from commenting on the sudden revelation. "Nineteen year old Jessica Lee Moore died in a dorm fire last night. The fire started in the dorm room shared by Moore and her roommate, Rebecca Warren and while Warren escaped unscathed Moore was not so lucky. They found no traces of her when they finally managed to put out the fire. The memorial service for Moore, the only casualty in this incident, will be held this Sunday at two PM on the main lawn. All are invited to attend." Dean walked over the glance at the article and was captivated by the picture of a pretty blonde girl with bright blue eyes. Jessica Moore looked innocent and purely happy in the photograph, as if unaware that it would be used to publicly announce her death. He wondered how Jessica had been connected to Sam. 

Whatever had gone after Jessica had probably been what Sam Winchester had seen going after Kelly. The situation, a mysterious fire where only one person was killed, fit what Sam had managed to babble out before they'd come to Windom. Therefore it was probably logically to conclude that Jessica had been a girlfriend, or at least that they'd gone on some kind of date. Briefly Dean allowed himself to wonder how he'd feel if everyone close to him, including Jo, were under fire and dying. Then he decided that the idea was too painful to consider and they needed to decide what they were going to do. "So do we go after him?" Dean asked. "Or do we check out this fire?"

"I'm returning home," Jim said, already heading for the door. "I can only be away from my church for so long and the place is securely warded. You three may do as you wish but I would advise that you tread carefully if you go after Sam. He is hurting right now and if one of you gets hurt around him he will only blame himself." With that said Jim turned and walked out the door.


End file.
